Find Your Way Into My Heart
by Storystar777
Summary: Mio Toru is just an average day class student but when she's out at night, she discovers the night class's dark secret. Staying away from them altogether might be harder then she thought when Ichijo takes a special interest in her. IchijoxOC
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: Not All Secrets Can Go by Unnoticed

I fastened the ribbon at my throat. I pulled at my blue skirt, letting out the breath I was holding. "What's with the long face?"

"Sakura," I said, looking towards the girl holding the door open for me.

"Are you coming or not? We're going to be late!" She squealed before heading down the hall. I followed after her, hearing the giggling group of girls as they bounded down the steps barely able to hold their excitement. The sun was beginning to set, casting long rays over the horizon. I stared ahead at the sea of girls still dressed in their school uniforms as they waited eagerly for the gates to open.

"Wild-senpai!" One called.

"Idol-senpai!" Another shouted when I realized whose voice it was coming from.

"Sakura?" The girl with long blonde curls gave me a wink before shouting the name out again. I was suddenly knocked to the ground as someone pushed their way past me. This was what I hated the most. I was about to snap at the person when I saw who it was.

"Sorry!" She called a hasty reply before continuing to push through the crowd to get to the front. "Day Class students return to your dorms!" She ordered. There were protests from every which way. I picked myself up, brushing the dirt off when I was yanked to the sidelines just as the gates began to open. There were awes and cries of names even louder than before as the gorgeous students in white uniforms began walking this way.

"Idol-senpai!" Sakura Hino cried again only this time louder as Hanabusa Aido walked by with his mellow cousin Akatsuki Kain by his side.

"Bang!" I was knocked to the ground again as the mass of girls began to swarm. I fell to my knees and began crawling, inching my way out when I saw the gap and dove forward.

"Mio, what are you doing on the ground?"

"I dropped a contact, what does it look like?" She grabbed hold of my arm pulling me up.

"Well you don't have time to look for it, Zero's here, let's go!" She released me once we started back down the path towards the sun dormitory. There was a light skip in her step beside me.

"You saw the night class, are you happy now?"

"Of course." She laughed. I shook my head as we headed towards our room. I hung my jacket up as she curled herself onto her bed still full of smiles. "One day, I'm going to buy my way into the night class."

"Good luck with that." I chuckled.

"And then Aido-senpai will fall in love with me and we'll live happily ever after."

"Bravo." I flung myself onto the bed, kicking off my shoes.

"What do you think is Yuki's problem?"

"Hmm?" I stared towards her.

"Yuki Cross, just because she's the chairman's daughter she gets the night class all to herself, it's not fair." She grumbled. I remembered the girl who had bumped into me not that long ago. The school prefect along with Zero Kiryu.

"She's just doing her job." I rolled over, staring up at the ceiling.

"If only I was a prefect." Sakura breathed.

"Yes but then you'd be up at night and aren't you afraid of the dark?"

"No!" She protested jumping up. I glanced at the night light on her side of the room. Cross Academy, the school divided into those of the day class (Sakura and I included) and the night class. Compared to the night class, we were all nothing. It was the disciplinary committee that kept us obsessed day class students in line and in our beds at night when they were having their classes.

"Mio, who do you like again?" I faced the wall, not wanting her to see my blushing face.

"Kuran-senpai is very good looking."

"Good luck with that!" She scoffed. I tossed my pillow at her.

"Like yours is any better! You have almost half of the day class to compete with for Aido!"

"Yes, but I will prevail! Besides, Kuran-senpai is always looking at Yuki."

"Which is why you gave up on him?" She didn't answer.

"He's too good for anyone." Her voice lowered.

"The same can go for the rest of them."

"But…!" She started when I jumped up.

"I'm hitting the bathroom." I picked up my towel and other items, closing the door quickly behind me. I began walking down the hall; other girl's passing me, all talking about the same thing. Even though I disliked everyone's constant affection for the night class I still liked Cross Academy. Sakura had gotten in through money while I had gotten in based on my grades. It was better than being home, my parents who both worked two jobs and my annoying studious sister who was in middle school. I'd known Sakura since our first year here, when we were assigned as roommates. She wasn't much different than the other day class students.

Dreamed of being on the arm of one of the night class men, but at the same time could keep her grades up. I headed into the shower stalls, stripping my clothes and letting the heat hit my head. After a good fifteen minutes I dried my shoulder length brown hair and dressed in my night gown. My wet bangs grazed my eyelids as I began walking back towards the room. Sakura was already fast asleep, the night light on. Just like any other night, I flipped it off. She needed to get used to the dark.

I climbed into bed and shut my eyes.

I stopped, seeing the girl leaning against the pillar. "Hi." I called. "Thank you for patrolling." Her eyes widened as she took me in and then the man beside me. She instantly ran off. "Yuki-chan's interesting. There isn't a girl like her in the night class." I stated.

"Indeed. For someone like me who lives in the darkness, she's a bright sight." He began to walk ahead of me.

"Everyone's beginning to like their lives here." He paused. "But don't forget, they follow human rules only because a pureblood vampire asked them to. Also, this peace is fragile."

"I understand, Ichijo." He continued again. _Sometimes I don't think you do, Kaname. _Leaving him to walk alone, I started back the other way. It was silent, with a soft breeze on the wind. Clouds hid the moon from sight as I opened the door finding the restless vampires.

"Ichijo, dorm head Kuran…" Kain began.

"Will be back soon." I assured giving a smile. "Now why don't we enjoy the rest of this night?"

"Akatsuki." Aido said and the two headed up the staircase.

"What do you think those two are up to?" Rima sarcastically asked before heading down the hall with Shiki in tow. Ruka was left, waiting for Kaname to return.

I sat up, feeling the pounding ache in my head. I rolled onto my stomach, trying to ignore it only for it to persist. Being careful not to wake the sleeping Sakura, I kicked the bed sheets off and tiptoed out of the bedroom. The door made a click behind me as I cautiously headed towards the infirmary. I washed down the pill with a glass of water when I heard voices. I peeked around the corner seeing the two giggling girls, shushing each other as they snuck down the stairs. I wasn't a prefect, it wasn't my job to tell them to go back to bed and leave the night class alone. I shouldn't even be out of bed but yet, why did I want to follow them then?

After debating for a moment, I made my way after them, seeing the door closing. I grasped the handle, slowly pulling the door open. I looked in each direction for any sign of Kiryu or Yuki. I hid behind the trees, heading towards the moon dormitory. I lost the two girls then. I whirled around wildly expecting to be caught at any moment when I heard a voice.

"Did you fall?" I recognized Aido's voice. "The smell I was talking about was your blood Yuki-chan." I glanced from behind the bark, taking in the scene in front of me. My blood turned to ice.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Weight of the Burden

"S-Senpai!" Yuki Cross exclaimed as Aido-senpai grabbed hold of her wrist, forcing her grip from the staff she was holding. Kain was standing, only watching his cousins while the two girls I'd been following were giddy with pleasure at something Aido had said.

"It's so tempting." He brought his lips to her palm when everything inside me changed. Two teeth came from his mouth, they were pointed and sharp as he drew blood from Yuki.

"Fangs?" One of the girls astonished.

"A vampire?" The other said. It wasn't possible! Vampires weren't real!

"Senpai! Stop it! Aido-senpai!" Yuki dropped her staff as Aido pulled her closer, she fought against his grip.

"I want more." The two day class students fell to the ground while Aido-san licked the blood from his lips. "May I drink from your neck?" I took a shaky step back, everything inside me telling me to run, everything inside of me telling me that I was dreaming.

"No! You can't!" I could stand it no longer. I turned and began running as fast as I could back the way I had come. What kind of sick world had I entered into? I raced up the stairs and threw open the door hearing the snore that came from Sakura. Panting, I quietly let the door close behind me and went to my bed. I pulled the blankets over top of me trying to shut out all the images of what had just happened.

Vampires weren't real. There was no way. Just who were the night class? Why were they so beautiful, why did they captivate us all? I gripped my head, trying to stop my shaking remembering how I had just left Yuki and the girls there. I hadn't done anything to help them. Instead I ran off like the coward I was. What was I supposed to do though? Jump out and say that I had been watching, what if Aido or Kain wanted to drink _my_ blood? The thought made a tremor run through me as my stomach began to churn. This was crazy! Did I really believe that there were vampires?

Aido-senpai had bitten Yuki's palm though, and he had drank her blood. I had seen his fangs. What other explanation was there? Why was no one else allowed to enter the night class unless the students were different. Unless the students couldn't take classes during the day. I shook my head trying to erase my own idiotic thoughts. I don't know when I fell asleep; all I knew was that Sakura was shaking me awake.

"Mio, Mio-chan get up now or else we're going to be late!" I slowly sat up, seeing the girl already dressed.

"I'll be up in a moment." I added after a moment of hesitation.

"Are you alright?" She must have picked out the uneasiness in my voice.

"Me? I'm fine. Just a rough night." I smiled. She nodded and left me to get dressed. I somehow managed to relax as I tied my shoes on and finished tying the red ribbon into a bow. Sakura handed me the sticky bun as we headed out of the dormitory along with the other students. The girls were slightly more bubbly then usual with the fact that Valentine's Day was coming up.

"Mio?" I stopped as Sakura stepped in front of me.

"What?" I jumped.

"I was asking you, are you going to give any chocolate to anyone for Valentine's Day?"

"Oh, probably not." I answered as we continued walking.

"I wonder what kind of chocolate Aido-san likes." She mumbled. Did a vampire even eat chocolate? I resisted the urge to slap myself. I sat down in my seat, the blonde haired girl sliding in beside me. Just as the teacher called the class's attention I saw Yuki in her usual seat beside Sayori. So she was fine! She looked normal, already beginning to doze off from her late errands as a prefect. Zero was the same a few seats above her when I saw the two day class girls I had followed last night. They were fine as well, did they still remember what happened or did they forget when they fainted?

During lunch, I dared to confide my secret in Sakura. "Have you ever noticed anything strange about the night class?"

"Strange?" She repeated, picking at the food in her bento box. "Well I think it's strange that they all are so gorgeous compared to the rest of us, is that what you mean?"

"Well yes and no. Have you ever gone out at night, to take pictures of them or watch them while there in class?"

"Once, but I got caught by Zero. It wasn't pretty." She replied. "Why?" Her eyes narrowed.

"I was just wondering cause…I went out last night."

"You did? Why didn't you tell me sooner! That's why you were acting so strange last night, tell me everything!" She was almost jumping up and down in her seat.

"I don't really know how to begin…" I started.

"Did you see Idol-senpai? You did didn't you? Did you see Kaname? Did he look even more beautiful than normal in the middle of class, focusing on his work? Oh I wish I could have been there, why didn't you wake me!" I stopped. Sakura didn't just admire the night class; she looked up to them as well. What would she do if I told her that I thought they were vampires?

"I didn't see any of them, I got caught by Yuki." I lied.

"Pity. Well maybe we should both sneak out tonight?"

"I don't think so; they're probably on the lookout for me now." She nodded her agreement. I stared towards the window, the afternoon sun high in the sky, as I let my mind wander.

My eyelids slowly opened. I reached up and rubbed the sleep from them as I yawned, the evening sun steadily approaching. It would be time for class in about an hour. I pulled myself to my feet, stripping my clothes as I made my way to my dresser. I dropped them to the floor as I changed into my white uniform. There was a knock at my door. "Come in." I called, seeing Shiki.

"Ichijo…" The spiky red haired boy began when he looked around my room. "Shouldn't you pick up your clothes?"

"Why? Do they not look nice?" He raised an eyebrow before continuing.

"Dorm head Kuran wants you." I made my way to Kaname's room, knocking on his door before entering.

"What is it, Kaname?" I asked. He was standing at the window, buttoning his cuffs. The grace of a pureblood still astounded me. They were engulfed in a completely different aura then the rest of us.

"I need you to keep a close eye on Aido if you can Ichijo. Seeing as how Valentine's Day is coming up, he's eager to get off the tablets and get something from the day class students."

"Of course." I paused. "Is there something else bothering you Kaname?" The sound of his voice was different. It was almost agitated instead of the usual calmness that came from it.

"I can't hide it can I? Aido bit Yuki last night." After so many years, I still didn't quite understand Kaname's fascination with the human girl, although the fact that he had saved her from a vampire did seem like a reason why he would still be protective of her."

"Is Yuki-chan alright?" I asked.

"She's fine. He didn't do too much damage, just watch him." I nodded, before heading out the door. I could hear the voices of the day class girls already.

"They are becoming quite eager." I smiled.

"Is Kaname-sama ready?" Ruka asked as I came down the stairs.

"Shall we go?" His voice asked behind me. The sudden light made my eyes sting, I ignored it though hearing all the cheering voices and the girls' screams of delight. I walked ahead of the rest, my books in my hands as I headed towards class. I glanced behind watching Aido has called a greeting to the girls. Keep an eye on him, huh? Well that didn't seem like too hard of a job.

I sat on the bed, my hands turning into fists as they gripped the sheets. Sakura had gone to see the night class on their way to their classes. There was no way I could go though, not after last night. Not after what I had seen. Would I ever be able to look at any of them the same again?


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: What Lies Beneath the Smile

"Mio?" The voice called.

"Sakura." I turned around as the girl caught up to me, panting for breath.

"I've been looking for you all over, it's urgent!"

"Well what is it then?"

"I don't know how to make handmade chocolates!" I walked away. "Mio!" She whined.

"What makes you think I know how, just buy your own?"

"But then it won't be special!" She vigorously shook her head. "I don't want to just buy Aido-senpai chocolate I want to make him some but I don't know how!" At the sound of the vampire boys named I stopped, my mind recalling the memory of when he attacked Yuki. He of all people…why did Sakura have to love him? "Don't you want to make chocolate for Kaname-senpai?"

"No, I have no interest in any of them anymore." I replied.

"Why? Just because you got caught when trying to see them? That's not any reason to give up on them!" She began.

"Think about it Sakura, do you really believe that Aido will fall for you? He probably doesn't even know your name."

"Not yet…" She started.

"Why do you think they're in the night class? They're secluded from everyone else and maybe for a reason. What if the they're dangerous? Just stay away from them." I continued back towards the sun dormitory leaving the stunned Sakura behind. I hadn't wanted to hurt her, but somehow I needed to get the message across without openly telling her about my theories. So far, all my scenarios that didn't end with them being vampires sounded even worse. The only sane conclusions I had was that I had been dreaming or they were vampires (don't know how sane that one is). I had contemplated on sneaking out and spying on them but I dropped the idea not wanting to get caught by the disciplinary committee or worse, in this case the night class.

A shiver ran through me at the thought. What would Aido do if he found out I'd been watching? I heard a few sudden screams causing me to whirl around. They were coming from the moon dormitory, was the night class revealing their true selves to everyone? I immediately began running, only able to think about one thing. There was an even larger crowd of girls the normal when I heard Zero's voice.

"If too many of you try to break the rules, the event might be cancelled." There was an uproar of protests. Everything seemed normal, why had someone screamed? I looked around and was able to finally relax when I saw her.

"Ah, Mio!" She waved me over. "You came!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Only because I heard someone scream, what happened?"

"Oh that, Nadeshiko-san fell of the wall." My eyes widened. "Don't worry, Kiryu caught her." The gates began to open and all of the girls cried out their names.

"I'm going to go."

"No, you're already here and they're coming anyway." Sakura gripped my sleeve, keeping me from escaping. Aido-san called out a greeting causing her to release me as she threw her hands into the air. I took a step back, getting ready to bolt when the night class stopped. I watched as Kaname-senpai went back the way he had come. Did he forget something? He paused in front of Zero. Over the girl's loud voices I didn't hear what he said, only for them to turn and continue on again. I glanced at Sakura, seeing that she hadn't even noticed. What was really going on in this school?

Bright green eyes met mine, and the face smiled. I felt the heat rush into my cheeks before I turned and started running. Once I reached the sun dormitory, I threw open the bedroom door collapsing on the bed. What was that? Why could they all so easily smile and set off such emotions in us? Just who were the night class? They were different, I knew that much. But vampires, what proof did I have of that. Aido's fangs flashed in my mind. Was I really that insane to believe such nonsense? I shook my head, trying to clear it when I rolled onto my back. There was only one thing I could do. I had to confront one of them. I had to find the truth for myself. 

So far, Aido hadn't done anything out of the ordinary. He hadn't left the dormitory after classes, making it easier for me to watch him. Now it was Valentine's Day but who knew what kind of trouble he would get into today. The gates opened and Yuki Cross began to explain how we would proceed to classes while the day class students handed us chocolates on our way. I couldn't deny the fact that I was looking forward to it.

"I knew this would be a pain." Shiki said.

"Listen this is no time to mess around. All of these girls are serious!" Yuki firmly put when Aido ran out ahead. Without thinking, I was about to step into action when Kaname called him back.

"Now then, let's begin!" Yuki-chan blew her whistle and I moved to the gate with my name on it. There was a line of girls ready in hand with chocolates.

"Thank you." I smiled, taking each one, when I noticed Shiki and Rima walking by. "Hey Shiki, you have to accept them also." He turned to face me when I grabbed hold of his arm.

"I'm sorry ladies; I'll get Shiki-kun to you now!" I quickly dragged him over to his gate where the girls were wildly waiting for him. As he began to accept his chocolates I glanced around, for some reason looking for someone in particular. I saw her, then standing beside a girl about a foot shorter then her. It looked as if they were arguing. I picked up on the conversation. 

"Sakura, I told you I wasn't giving out any chocolates." I complained.

"I know which is why…" She placed in my hands the pale pink box wrapped with a red ribbon. "I got you some chocolate to give to Kuran-senpai!" She smiled.

"What?" I exclaimed, staring at the box in my hands.

"You're welcome!"

"It's bad enough you dragged me down here and now you want me to give out chocolates too?"

"You better hurry; he's almost done with his gate." She began to push me in his direction.

"No!" I began to fight her when I immediately stopped, as those green eyes once again met mine.

"Hi." The boy gave the same smile as yesterday and waved.

"Is that Ichijo-senpai…?" I began.

"…waving at you?" Sakura finished. He then began walking over. I stumbled backwards only crashing into Sakura who pushed me towards him.

"I noticed that you ran off in a hurry yesterday." He sheepishly grinned.

"He was watching you!" Sakura squealed in my ear. I missed the next thing he said then. Instead I was focused on his mouth watching as he spoke. My body became stiff all over when I caught sight of the small points.

"Here." I shoved the box at him. "This what you were looking for?" He stared at me confused.

"Mio…" Sakura whispered.

"Why don't you find someone else to stalk?" With that I grabbed hold of Sakura's wrist and pulled her in the direction of our dormitory.

"Mio, you didn't have to be so rude. He was just asking if you were okay."

"I told you to stay away from them. There's something not right with the night class." I answered. 

I stared after the two girls open mouthed, not able to remember the last time I was treated that way, especially by someone I didn't even know.

"Ichijo-san." Shiki's voice startled me.

"Huh, let's head to class." He began to follow behind me as I started walking, continuing to accept the chocolates, the girl's box from before shoved in my back pocket.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Silent

The class had grown quiet, but I hadn't noticed. With a smile on my face, I folded the love note and continued on to the next one. These girls' really were cute, it was sad that I didn't even know who they were.

"Where are Aido and the others?" Kaname suddenly asked.

"Huh?" I looked up from the card, glancing around. "Now that you mention it they're not here. I wonder where they went." Only Seiren was seated.

"Didn't I ask you to watch him?" I paused, searching for an answer.

"I'll go look for him now." I got up from my seat and started for the door, daring to look behind seeing Kaname's hard eyes. The door closed behind me and I managed to control myself from throwing a temper tantrum. He had given me one simple job, to watch Aido and what did I do? Get occupied with love letters instead of watching him! As I headed outside I heard something behind me. I turned and saw the slightly damaged box that had fallen from my pocket. I had completely forgotten. I pulled on the red ribbon, and it instantly revealed the chocolate box along with the note.

_To Kaname-senpai_

_Love, Mio-san xo_

There was a heart beside her name as well. So her name was Mio. Without thinking I crumpled the letter and tossed it to the ground behind me. So it had been for Kaname all along. Why had she given it to me then? Had it looked like I needed any more chocolates, I had a whole stack…I shook my head as if to clear it. What was I thinking? I didn't even know her so why would it matter that she got chocolate for Kaname-sama? I picked back up the letter and tried my best to straighten it before slipping it and the box back into my pocket. I would give it to him later, but I had to find Aido first.

Knowing Aido he would be heading towards the sun dormitory. I started that way when I heard footsteps. I looked and saw the group of them.

"Ichijo-san." Shiki said.

'There you all are." I breathed a sigh of relief. "Where have you all been?" I added with a more demanding tone. They all were silent.

"Aido decided to pick a fight with Kiryu." Rima spoke up.

"And the rest of you agreed to this?" My line of sight fell upon Kain and Ruka.

"We were bored." Shiki replied.

"Tell that to Kaname-sama, he's wondering where you all are. Especially you." Aido turned away, but not before speaking up himself.

"He shouldn't talk to Kaname-senpai the way he does."

"Yes, but that doesn't make our place to do something about it." They each bowed their heads. "Now, let's go." I walked from behind as we made our way back to class. I headed to the front once we met the standing Kaname.

"Well, they regret their actions." I spoke for the group. "Even so, getting provoked by Aido, I wonder if they hurt Kiryu-kun's feelings." I added to lighten the mood.

"There's no help for it now." Kaname said turning to the window. "His life changed ever since the incident four years ago."

"Kaname-sama..." Ruka began.

"You may all return to the dorms." The others started down the steps when I took the box from my pocket.

"Kaname, this was accidently given to me, it's for you though." I held it out to him, hoping he wouldn't notice the wrinkled note.

"You may keep it; I have no need for it." He answered and began walking away. I stared down at the box in my hand. But it had been meant for you.

I awoke with a start. The past few nights my sleep had been restless. Somehow, all I could think about was what had happened. I laid back down staring at the ceiling. Maybe I should talk to Yuki, the prefects most likely knew the truth but would she tell me if I went ride up and stated my accusations. Besides if she asked how I knew, she would know that I had been spying the other night.

I rolled to my side, hardly knowing what to do. What proof did I even have that the night class were vampires? I didn't have any so why should I let it bother me? I sat up once again, just as the mail was slid under the door. Placing my feet to the ground, I went over seeing the few envelopes addressed to Sakura and then the one to me from my family. I placed mine on my night stand knowing that I would read it later when I saw one more. It was also addressed to me only it didn't have who it was from. The hand writing was unfamiliar as well.

I ripped the letter open, my eyes skimming the page. I had to read it twice just to make sure I wasn't dreaming.

_I really enjoyed your chocolates and I must properly thank you. If you can please meet me at the swan fountain I would be grateful. _

_Signed Kuran Kaname. _

I stared down at it open mouthed. How, how did he get the chocolates? I replayed yesterday over and over in my mind realizing that each time I had given the chocolates to Ichijo-senpai, not Kaname-senpai! How did he get them and why would he thank me for them? I concluded that either this was a prank or he was meeting with and thanking all the girls who had given him chocolates. It was Sunday though so there wouldn't be any classes today, what did it matter if I did go and meet him.

I could confront Kaname about being a vampire. I shook my head. He defiantly was the wrong person to accuse, but I still was intrigued. I silently got dressed and slipped on my boots before tiptoeing out of the bedroom. With the letter shoved in my pocket, I made my way across the campus, heading towards the center. There were some people out and about this early in the morning but none of them seemed to notice me. It wasn't like it was against the rules for a day class student to go outside on a day with no classes.

I panted for breath looking wildly around as I reached the fountain in the shape of a swan. I sat down on the edge, now wondering if he would even show up. Maybe it had been all a joke. My heart raced in my chest as I reached into my pocket and pulled out the letter. I read it once more when I heard a rustling noise. I jumped to my feet, the early sun casting a ray on the blonde haired boy. "Ichijo-san." I said dumbly, looking back at the note again.

"Kaname's not coming." He answered. "I thought you would only come if his name was on it." He took a step towards me and I continued to stare at him in confusion.

"Why are you here? What do you want from me?"

"I want to know if I did something to offend you."

"Offend me?" I repeated astounded.

"Yes."

"Why would you think that?"

"Because of the way you treated me on Friday, and the day before that."

"It doesn't have anything to do with you." I paused, realizing that if I was correct then it did have to do with him.

"I'm sorry for bringing you out here then." He bowed to turn away.

"I know what you are." The words fell from my mouth.

"I don't follow." He smiled.

"I know what the night class is. I know what you all are." I mumbled, wishing that I could just stop talking.

"Just what is it you think we are?" There was concern creeping into his green eyes. I shook my head.

"I know how this works. I'll say it and then you'll say that I'm crazy and I'll feel like a total idiot."

"Tell me what you think we are, and I promise to tell you the truth." His emerald eyes held my gaze and I couldn't look away.

"You're vampires." He was silent.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five: Bigger Things to Worry About then Dorm Inspections

I still didn't know why I had done this. Why had I written the fake letter, posing to be Kaname only to lead this girl out to where no one else was around. All I could do now though is stare, as her face grew redder and redder with each passing moment. I had not expected her to guess that. How did she even know? I had promised to tell her the truth but this wasn't just effecting me, it would affect the entire night class if she told everyone we were really vampires. What would Kaname say? What did I do? Lie and do exactly what I said I wouldn't?

"What's your name?" I finally dared to ask. She opened her mouth as if contemplating whether to speak.

"Mio…Toru."

"Toru-san, would you please tell me why you believe we are vampires?"

"I saw Aido-senpai attack Yuki, he drank her blood. I saw his fangs." She was quick to respond. It was unlikely that I could persuade her to believe she had imagined it but yet I didn't want to erase her memories of it either. I still was at a loss whether to tell her the truth or lie.

"Even so , what proof do you have?"

"None." She answered solemnly. "Which is why I haven't told anyone else either." What was to stop her from telling once she knew the truth though?

"You're not going to tell me anything, are you?"

"I'm debating to be insulted that you called me a vampire." I teased.

"So you deny it?"

"What would you do if I said you were right?" I slowly began to walk towards her.

"I wouldn't run if that's what you mean."

"Just tell me one thing." I began. "What is a vampire to you?"

"Something evil…and unnatural."

"Do I seem evil and unnatural to you?"

"No." I turned away.

"So there's you answer." I started walking back when she called out again.

"So you don't mind if I tell the entire day class that the night class are vampires?" I stopped.

"Well why would you do?" I slowly began to face her.

"It wouldn't matter unless you have something to hide."

"Well we don't." I stared at her, feeling my heart beginning to race.

"So you don't care then?"

"You'll be made fun of if you say something like that…" I stuttered.

"But it doesn't matter to you?"

"Uh…um…" I glanced in each direction looking for a way out.

"Ichijo-san." My head snapped in her direction at the sound of my name. Her dark brown eyes held my gaze. "You can trust me."

"There's something you have to understand." She nodded for me to continue. "We're not what you think. We don't…" I fished into my pocket for the small box which I then held out to her.

"Medication?" She asked confused.

"These are blood tablets. They dissolve in water and quench the first so we don't have to feed on humans."

"But Aido…"

"It doesn't taste as good as fresh which is why he did what he did."

"Just how many of there are you?"

"More than you think."

"The night class…" She started.

"All of the night class, and more out in the world." I answered.

"Why are you all here though? Why Cross Academy?"

"Chairman Cross wanted to create an environment where humans and vampires could co-exist without the danger that comes from it out in the world."

"Which divides the day class and the night class" I could tell from the look on her face that everything had just fallen into place. "That's why day class students can't get into the night class."

"And the prefects?"

"Are actually guardians, to protect the day class students from us."

"Wait, why would we need protecting?"

"If you saw what Aido did that night, then it shouldn't come as such as a shock that not all of us decide to follow the rules." She continued to nod when I heard the approaching sound of voices and footsteps. I raced towards her, knocking her into the bushes just as Shiki and Rima appeared.

"Ichijo-san, why are you all the way out here this early?" Shiki yawned.

"No reason." I smiled.

"Dorm head sent us to get you. It seems that the prefects are planning some kind of inspection." Rima stated.

"Inspection?" I repeated. "We better get back then." As they turned around to go back, I glanced down at the girl hiding below. "You better go back too. Someone may be looking for you." She nodded before crawling away. I headed after Shiki and Rima, my thoughts still lingering on what had just happened. I only hoped that she didn't tell anyone. Not everyone was gathered yet, as I made myself a cup of tea to calm myself before sitting down on the couch.

"Dorm inspections?" Aido exclaimed.

"I see, thank you Seiren." Kaname excused her,

"Goodness there's no way to predict that Chairman's thinking." Ruka groaned.

"It's not a big deal as long as you don't have anything they would consider bad if they found it." Shiki said.

"That's right. As long as you don't have anything out of the ordinary inspections don't even matter." I had bigger things to worry about then dorm inspections.

"Ichijo-san you still haven't picked up the clothes all over your floor, have you?" Shiki glanced at me.

"It's fine. They're all made of the finest silk so no matter where I leave them out it isn't embarrassing." I smiled.

"Oh really." Ruka murmured. Kain continued to pull Aido away as the rest of us were sent to go to our rooms and make sure they were in an orderly fashion for when the prefects came. With Shiki's help, we folded my clothes and placed them into my drawers, when Kaname called us to help with Aido's. His usually, messy and untidy room was now perfectly neat with the few boxes in the corner.

"What do you want us to do?" Kain asked.

"Just carry it all out." He answered, as Aido sobbed on the floor.

"My muscles are going to get tired out. The agency will be mad." Shiki complained as he carried the small box out of the room.

"Being a model must really be tough." I smiled, following him out with my box in hand. As we headed back for the rest Shiki spoke up again.

"It seems like the prefects went back for something."

"I guess the inspections will have to wait." I said, following him back into the bedroom just as Aido pushed past me. This was good though. I hadn't gotten the chance to stress to Mio the importance of keeping this a secret, if the inspections were delayed then it would give me enough time to go and tell her. After finishing carrying out the boxes, I quickly snuck out of the dormitory, heading towards the day class.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six: The Night Visitor

"Mio, there you are! I've been looking for you everywhere."

"Obviously not everywhere since you didn't find me." I teased as the girl through her arms around me once I entered the room.

"It's terrible!" She cried looking up at me.

"What is?" My heart rate sped up.

"The prefects, they're doing dorm inspections and confiscating anything that has to do with the night class." She released me allowing me to move to my bed.

"Well do you have anything about the night class that should be confiscated?" She smiled sheepishly. "Sakura." I hissed.

"It's just a few pictures."

"I'm not helping you hide them."

"Oh Please Mio! It's not like you have anything that needs to be confiscated so they won't even check you!"

"Now that is a lie, they have to check everyone." She glumly sat down on her bed as she pulled out the photo album from underneath her mattress.

"Goodbye my precious Aido-senpai." There was a knock on the door and she tossed the photo album to me. I caught it just as the door opened and Yuki Cross came in.

"This isn't what it looks like." I stuttered as she came forward to take the photo album from me. "Here." I willingly handed it over which caused her to give me a look of confusion.

"I'm guessing these aren't your pictures." She took it from me just as Sakura jumped up.

"Please let us keep them!"

"Sakura?" I exclaimed as she ran out the door after Yuki. I looked to the window, the sun high in the sky. I had been right. Ichijo along with the entire night class were different. Vampires. I had so many questions and yet none of them had been answered. How was it even possible for a thing like vampires to exist? My fists gripped the bed sheets I struggled to think of an explanation. My mind thought back to that night and how Aido had attacked Yuki. What if Ichijo ever lost control?

Was it even more dangerous to discover the secret then to stay blind in the dark?

"Toru-san." A voice said. My eyelids fluttered but stayed closed. "Mio-san." The voice repeated only this time shook my shoulder. Groaning, I rolled over crushing his hand. "Mio." He grabbed me, shaking my awake.

"What?" I demanded, my eyelids flying open when I saw the green eyes in the darkness.

"Ichijo-senpai?" I asked. He shushed me. "What are you doing here? If someone sees you…" I saw the door hanging open and glanced to the sleeping Sakura. It was a good thing she was a heavy sleeper.

"I know, but there is still so much that we need to discuss." He replied.

"It's four in the morning." I complained after looking to the clock.

"Come on, quickly." He moved to the door and I was about to go back to sleep when he motioned for me to come. Obviously he was completely serious. Maybe he was insane too. I finally gave in and grudgingly kicked the sheets off before pulling on my boots and hurrying after him still in my night gown. He on the other hand was dressed in the white night class uniform. It made sense then. He had come now because he had most likely only just gotten out of classes.

Once we were outside, he grabbed hold of my wrist and pulled me behind him as he darted behind the trees watching out for either of the perfects or any of the night class who noticed he was missing. "Here seems like a good spot. They don't usually patrol in this area." He finally spoke once we had neared the edges of Cross Academy. He released my wrist and I sat down as he stood next to a tree still glancing around. "Toru-san, the fact that you know about us now is very dangerous."

"I understand, the night class can't know that I know about them and the day class can't discover the secret either."

"Exactly, which is why you can't tell anyone, also you can't let the prefects know." His eyes met mine then. "It would be better if you continued your life as if you never had a conversation with me."

"And what about us?"

"_Us_?" He was suddenly alert, shuffling his feet. "There is no us." I felt the heat in my cheeks and I instantly looked away.

"That's not what I mean. Are you just going to never speak to me again and let me wonder for the rest of my life about the existence of vampires or…"

"That's up to you." I glanced at him as he lounged against the tree trunk. "If you are afraid of us then it would be better if we stopped it here."

"I'm not afraid." I answered quickly causing his usually soft eyes to stare at me harder. "I'm more afraid of not knowing actually." He slowly sank down so that he was sitting across from me.

"Okay then, what else do you need to know?"

"That night with Aido, there was two other girls who had seen it. How come they don't remember?"

"We had their memories erased." I felt my eyes widen. Seeing the concern on my face he quickly added. "I won't ever erase your memories of the night class being vampires, I promise."

"As for the vampire superstitions, which ones are true?" I dared to ask then.

"As far as I am aware of, none of them except the sun; it's very bright and hurts our eyes so we sleep during the day."

"And taking the tablets, do they help you to…keep it under control?" My voice wavered and quieted as I tried to ask without sounding like a complete idiot.

"I have never done what Aido did if that is what you are asking, and yes I can survive on the blood tablets." He smiled.

"Good." I nodded, not knowing what else to say.

"You seem distracted." He commented.

"Don't take this as an insult but I'm really confused as to how vampires are even real." He thought for a long time before answering.

"Global warming."

"That happened ten thousand years ago." I said. He nodded. "Vampires have been around since then?" I couldn't hide the amazement in my voice.

"This was also when vampire hunters came into being."

"Vampire hunters?" I repeated. He became stiff.

"The dawn is coming. You need to get back to bed." He jumped to his feet and in one swift movement had grabbed hold of my wrist once more and we were heading back the way we had come not that long ago. "I'll explain more tomorrow." He whispered once we stopped outside the sun dormitory. I watched him disappear into the shadows before going inside. _Tomorrow_. We would meet again, something about this warmed me inside.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven: Level E's and Birthdays

The sun was beating down as we made our way to our next class. It had been two days since I had discovered for sure that the night class were vampires. Ichijo had snuck into my room every night at four in the morning to drag me out only he no longer explained anything about the vampires to me.

"Ow!" I exclaimed, my hand moving to the back of my head as the pebble fell to the ground.

"What happened?" Sakura asked. I picked up the rock and looked around; my eyes caught side of the blonde hair walking away.

"Nothing, you head on to class. I have to see something." She took my books as I stared after him, heading away from the day classes. As I found myself amidst the shrubbery, I lost sight of him. "Ichijo-senpai?" I said in a whisper, afraid someone would hear me and create a pandemonium. Fingers grasped my arm and I was pulled aside.

"Toru-chan, how are you?" Ichijo waved when I saw the other boy beside him. "Huh, you know Shiki right?" The red haired boy stared at me unresponsive.

"Kind of." I answered before looking back to Ichijo. "What are you doing here, especially during the middle of the day?"

"Kaname is sending us into town; it would be good if you came with us."

"Came with you? I still have classes to go to." He grabbed hold of my wrist and we were heading towards the front of the campus. "Ichijo-senpai!" I struggled against his grip as we made our way outside the gate and heading down the path into the city. It wasn't that long of a walk, and at the pace that they were going we were there in ten minutes. They slowed then, the two boys stopping as they looked in different directions, waiting for something to happen.

"It's this way." Shiki-senpai pointed to the right and Ichijo released me as we followed him behind the alleyways. They abruptly stopped when I heard voices.

"Stay here, Toru-chan." Ichijo told me and I noticed for the first time the sheathed sword at his waist. I peered my head around the corner as they stepped into the alley where I saw the man, who was standing with his back to me, in front of Yuki Cross and Zero Kiryu. Yuki was on her knees while Zero stood in front of her, a staff in hand. In a second there was a flash of Ichijo's sword. There was an explosion of dust and I instantly pulled back to shield myself from the blow. When it stopped, I dared to look back seeing that it littered the ground along with the man's trench coat.

"It's finished." Ichijo-san stated, once again sheathing his sword.

"You didn't really need me," Shiki said to the side.

"Why did you both do such a thing?" Yuki asked, mirroring the questions running through my head.

"If it's something that bothers you, come to the moon dorm tonight." Ichijo replied before beginning to turn away. "We can take our time talking about why I finished off that Level E." _Level E_. I repeated. Something about that phrase, sent chills down me. The two boys came back to me as Yuki and Zero went their separate ways. "I'm sorry if I frightened you." Ichijo said apologetically, placing his hand on my shoulder.

"I don't understand." I looked at him, his green eyes staring down at me. "What was that?"

"It was a vampire."

"But you and Shiki-senpai…" My voice trailed off as I looked from both of them.

"You should come to the moon dorm tonight as well, then you can hear the truth about us for yourself." Shiki was the one to say. I froze, before turning on Ichijo.

"I thought you said it would be dangerous if anyone knew that I knew about you all!"

"And not tell Shiki? He wouldn't tell anyone so it's fine if he knows."

"I really don't care what Ichijo-san does with his free time." He replied and moved ahead of us.

"Shall we?" He smiled, beckoning for me to go on ahead. He fell into step beside me as we made our way back to the academy. By the time I got to my class, it was over and Sakura was bursting to know what I had gotten up to. But none of that mattered. All I could think about was tonight and knowing the truth behind the night class vampires. Before I knew it, night had fallen and once Sakura and the rest of the day class were asleep, I changed from my nightgown and silently snuck from the sun dormitory and began towards the moon. I looked around cautiously and stopped when I saw Shiki and Touya-senpai waiting. Just how many of the night class was he really going to tell?

"This way." She said and I followed the two of them off the path and behind the trees that surrounded the moon dormitory. People were gathered and a table was spread out, different kinds of foods and a four layer cake was in the center. A party?

"You will stay here, and not let anyone notice you." Shiki told me before the two of them went to join the others. I saw Ichijo then, he looked directly at me and winked. I flushed before looking away and seeing Kain and Aido leading Yuki and Zero down the path. The vampires instantly irrupted in murmurs.

"Welcome Yuki-chan, Kiryu-kun. Tonight's my birthday party." Ichijo warmly greeted them.

"I want you to enjoy yourselves." I smiled at the human girl and vampire hunter.

"I didn't come here to visit you." Yuki said uneasily. "I wanted to ask you something about today."

"Oh." My face dropped as I remembered the real reason they were all here.

"Why did you finish off the Level E when you're both the same kind of vampire?" This was a great insult. I wasn't able to answer though. As Aido explained, I gathered a glass for her and myself. The blood tablet already dissolved in mine.

"Yuki-chan, the vampire society is governed by a number of purebloods and a handful of noble classmen. The night class is composed of the noble class and above," I handed her the glass filled with lemonade as I actually spoke my words to the girl hiding a few yards away. "But the normal vampires are below them, the ones further down are the ex-human vampires." I couldn't help but glance at Zero as I said this.

"And they exist apart based on a rank of Level E." Shiki said coming beside her.

"An ex-human's sense gradually decays, they will defiantly end up becoming a Level E sooner or later." I stared at my glass wondering what she would think as I opened my mouth to continue. "End, destruction, and ruin." Aido spoke again, angering Yuki.

"That's a horrible way to say things. It's not like the Level E's became that way because they wanted to. You caused it to happen in the first…" I cut her off.

"That is exactly why we have to control it." I politely put. "Before they randomly are able to attack people."

"I was the one who ordered it." Kaname-sama spoke us. Everyone's attention was turned to him. As he called Yuki and Zero to come to him, the girl handed me back her drink. I moved over to the table placing her glass down as my mind processed what had just been conversed. I didn't dare look to the trees, afraid one of the others would notice me doing it. Would this clear up Mio's confusion or only make her more confused. I watched Kaname as Yuki sat beside him. How at ease he was beside her while on the other hand Yuki was the opposite. She seemed nervous and couldn't stay still. I took a sip from my glass, the fake taste of blood engulfing my senses.

Was that the way Mio felt when she was beside me? Was I calm like Kaname while she was prepared to run at any given second? I looked up when I suddenly felt the tension in the air. I placed my glass down and clapped, they all looking to me.

"Alright everyone tonight is my birthday so you have to make sure that you enjoy yourselves." The vampire's eyes stared at me hard. "Yuki-chan and Kiryu-kun are my special guests." They each began to relax as the party started up again. This was something that I hated. Parties that contained noble class vampires were always so boring. No one did anything while I heard that most human parties were quite lively. There were a few couples dancing while no music played. I wouldn't even consider it dancing but mere swaying back and forth.

"Maybe you should cut the cake now?" Ruka suggested turning to me. I did as she said, and made an even slice before turning to the bored Shiki.

"Shiki, would you like to try cutting it?" He nodded and I held the knife out to him.

"Hold onto it, Ichijo-san." He grabbed hold of the handle and quickly pulled it from my grasp. The skin tore open and the blood swelled.

"You cut me." I said, staring at the wound.

"I'm sorry." He took my hand. "What a waste." His tongue licked over the cut.

"Shiki, don't plan on using me personally to entertain yourself." I warned feeling the embarrassment and discomfort welling inside. As Zero ran out from the dormitory with Yuki after him, I took hold of my glass and took a sip.

"This really is dull after all." Aido groaned.

"There are some ex-humans with some risky moments." Shiki stated, staring at his drink.

"Huh?" We both turned to him.

"The ones who cannot accept the tablets." I was relieved when it was finally time for the so-called party to end. Once everything was cleaned up and everyone was gone I snuck behind the trees to find the girl passed out. I stifled my laughter and lifted her up, finding her quite light in my arms as I carried her back to the sun dormitory. I went up the stairs and quietly opened the door, being careful not to disturb her roommate as I placed her on the bed.

"Ichijo-senpai." She asked in a whisper. "Everything that everyone said tonight, is it all true?"

"Every word." I answered and was about to turn to leave when she grabbed hold of my sleeve.

"Ichijo-san, happy birthday." I looked back to her, but her eyes were already closed.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight: Tell Me

"You've been quiet lately." The voice pulled me from my daydreams.

"What do you mean?" Sakura who was stacking her books to leave the classroom had cast her eyes downward.

"That's not just it. I have to repeat myself more often and you're always tired."

"Well you know exams are coming up…" I stammered, trying not to reveal where I was sneaking off to during my free time and early morning hours. She didn't look satisfied with my answer. I gave a wide smile only for her to suddenly look away obviously put out. I raked my fingers through my hair trying to think of something to say. "Do you want to do something tomorrow night? Like go out to the town or…?" She didn't let me finish.

"Like a girl's night!"

"Sure."

"That sounds great; I'll see you back at the room Mio." She waved before bouncing down the steps and heading out the door. I yawned, realizing for the first time that she was right, I was tired. I would have to tell Ichijo to stop waking me after his classes, unlike him I did need to keep up my grades so that I wouldn't lose my scholarship. A clock chimed, alerting me of the time. Grabbing my books I pushed through the clusters of day class girls and made it outside. I started a run across campus, seeing that the sun was low in the sky. It was late afternoon giving Ichijo enough time to meet with me before having to go to class.

I stashed my books in the usual bush and paused. Looking around, I saw no one. "Up here." The familiar voice called. I couldn't hide the smile on my face as I looked up and saw the blonde haired boy sitting in the tree, the sunlight lighting fire to his green eyes. He jumped down easily, landing on his feet. "How was class?" He grinned.

"Same old." I answered as he took my hand and started to lead me away. "Where are we going today?"

"Seeing as how, space is limited nowhere new." Ichijo replied. Only Rima and Shiki were aware of Ichijo secretly meeting me, unlike me who was not allowed to tell anyone, even Sakura. After finding a quiet spot, he released me. I sat down on the ground, grazing in the rays of sun while he stood in the shade. I yawned.

"You really need to stop waking me up at night. I almost fell asleep in my classes yesterday."

"I have to get up earlier to meet you after your classes get out, remember?" He smiled.

"Still, you're a vampire it must be different."

"That's your excuse? That's like me complaining that you're a human." He laughed.

"It must be different though, right?" I rolled onto my side, plucking at the grass as I faced him.

"I don't know, having never been human I don't know what the difference is except for all the vampire attributes."

"Is it hard?" I bit my lip, having asked the question before thinking. He gazed off into the distance, the light flickering in his green eyes.

"I'm quite lucky to be in the position that I'm in." was all he said. I stared after him in silence for a moment before he turned back to me.

"Tell me about you."

"What?" I sat up.

"Tell me about yourself. What do you do, when you're not with me of course? What do you like, what do you dislike?"

"I didn't think it was ever in the deal to get into personal issues."

"That's what humans talk about, don't they?" He laid on his stomach, his eyes wide as his head was perched on his knuckles, waiting for me to spill. I laid back down, resting my head against my forearms. I could feel the heat in my face as I opened my mouth to speak.

"I don't do exciting things like other people; I'm more of a stay at home type of person."

"Yet you came here, this obviously isn't home."

"I mean I'm not as outgoing as Sakura."

"And Sakura is?"

"My friend…my best friend actually."

"The deep sleeper roommate." I laughed.

"That's her." I stared up at the sky, watching the white clouds move fast before continuing. "We're actually going out on a girl's night tomorrow."

"Into the town?"

"Yeah." His voice had changed. I sat up. "Is something wrong with that?" He was no longer relaxed on the ground.

"No, but remember there are vampires in the town, ones that aren't like the night class."

"What are the odds of us running into them really?" He didn't answer. "We're just going to go to a café, get something to eat, and then head back."

"Sounds like fun." He replied, no longer fretting.

"What about you?" I asked.

"What about me?" He seemed confused.

"Tell me about you." I imitated him. He laughed uneasily before getting up.

"I better head back to the dorm; they'll be looking for me. See you later, Toru-chan."

"Ichijo-san!" I exclaimed but he was gone.

With my head low, I walked past the gates entering the moon dormitory. I hadn't meant to leave Mio so quickly, yet that was all I could think to do in that moment.

"Ichijo-san?"

"Shiki." I forced a smile as I looked up. The red haired boy was staring at me with a slight concern.

"Class will be starting soon, you should get ready." It was just like Shiki to not ask what was bothering someone. It was times like these that I was grateful for my friend's silent personality. I went inside the building finding Aido, Kain, and Ruka in the room. They didn't look up as I entered, letting me proceed to climb the stairs and head to my bedroom. I shut the door quietly behind me, discarding the piles of clothes on the floor from my mind as I walked across the room and sat down on the bed.

How selfish I was. Closing my eyes, I rolled over. I asked Mio about her, not caring if she didn't want to tell me but yet when she wanted to know about me. I refused. I couldn't tell her about me though. She couldn't know about me, not about my life, not about who I really was, and defiantly not about the Ichijo group. I willed away the thoughts of my grandfather. Knowing the effect of the purebloods, how they could control any of us and for my own family to be part of the top of the vampire nobles.

There were some parts of this vampire world that I had to keep a secret from her. If Mio knew these things...I opened my eyes and looked to the ceiling, recalling what Kaname had gone through. Yuki was a human who knew the truth about us, yet even though they had been so close as children, Yuki did not act the same to Kaname now that she was older and knew the entire truth behind the vampire race. _Humans are fragile_. I hadn't dared tell those words to her when she had asked the difference between humans and vampires.

There was a large difference between us though, which is why it is selfish for me to continue what I was doing. But yet, I can't stop. Not now. And for that, Mio cannot not know about me. So that I don't lose her, or worse, scare her.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine: Girl's Night Out

"You ready to go?" The ecstatic Sakura asked, dressed in a short pink skirt, with a coral colored top and a hot pink purse at her waist while her blonde curls bounced around her face. Somehow I felt very plain, comparing her to my plain knee-length skirt with a white jacket over top of my red T-shirt.

"Yup." I answered and opened the door for her. We started down the staircase side by side to find Yuki just outside the doors.

"We're going into town." Sakura told her.

"Be careful." She warned, reminding me of Ichijo. Obviously, she was aware of the dangers like I was, unlike the innocent Sakura. "Be back before curfew."

"Of course we'll be back before curfew, she really drives my patience!" The blonde girl stormed once Yuki was out of earshot. "Who does she think she is?"

"The disciplinary committee." Realization occurred and she looked away. The sun was low sending warm rays our way down the winding pathway into the city. We reached our destination shortly; a ramen shop. We were seated almost immediately, and while Sakura blabbered to the waitress I looked around the restaurant, eyeing the customers for any suspicious activity, or any kind of activity that exhibited vampire motives. After a moment of hesitation on two deprived looking girls, it seemed that everything was safe letting me relax and enjoy the girl's night with Sakura.

"Are you excited for the dance?" She asked pryingly, once our food had been served.

"Dance." I repeated, trying to recall to my mind any type of dance coming up. She kicked my foot underneath the table from her own impatience.

"The dance after the exams, the night class get to go to it!"

"Oh that dance." I laughed, trying to imagine Ichijo at a dance full of the night class and day class.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing, I can't believe I forgot about it." I lied.

"You could dance with Kaname." She said with a wide grin on her face. Dancing with a pureblood vampire. The idea was out of the question.

"I'll pass." I shrugged it off.

"You've had no interest in him since Valentine's Day, did something happen?" She was concerned now.

"Of course not, I've just moved on from him." _Permanently_. "What about you? Do you want to try to dance with Aido?"

"I don't know, I've kind of been thinking lately that Ichijo is pretty cute." I almost choked on my noodles.

"Ichijo?" I asked as I took a sip of water. She nodded her face reddening. "You're not serious are you?" My heart was racing now.

"Why shouldn't I be, he's really nice. He'd be more likely to dance with me then Aido and remember how he came up to you on Valentine's Day?" I restrained myself from lurching across the table and shaking her until she realized how insane this all was. "But then again maybe Wild-senpai would dance with me." She was beginning to talk to herself allowing me to regain sanity. Why had I been getting so worked up about this? Sure Ichijo was my friend and I knew him more than Sakura, but why couldn't I accept the idea of her dancing with him?

"Mio?"

"What?" I exclaimed, realizing she had been talking to me.

"Are you done?" I looked down at my meal seeing that I had only eaten half of it.

"Yeah." I replied, looking back up at her. I had somehow lost my appetite. She paid for the meal after I had tried to, only for her to get her way when she said I could pay next time.

"Curfew isn't for another hour, do you mind if we look around the shops?" I nodded my agreement and Sakura began to window-shop. I gathered from her constant mumbling that she wanted to send something to her parents seeing as how she hadn't seen them in awhile and didn't know when she would again.

"Do you want to pick anything out for your parents or sister?" Sakura asked, as she was buying a porcelain teacup for her mother.

"Not really." I answered, thinking of the unopened letters I had on my dresser.

"Go find something." She pushed me down one of the aisles. I tried to think of the things my family liked. It had been so long since I had talked to them.

"Haruka likes books." I mumbled aloud, reading the titles only to be stumped again not knowing what kind of books my sister liked. I reached for the top shelf cursing my short height.

"Allow me." A voice said. A long arm stretched out grabbing the book and bringing it down for me.

"Thanks." I began, turning to face him when I caught sight of the red in his eyes. "I should be going." I whipped around, telling myself I had imagined it.

"Did you find anything?" Sakura met up with me.

"Kind of." I answered uneasily, when the boy waved at me. He had curly brown hair and a friend with him who had dirty blonde with a long fringe.

"Who are they?" She demanded.

"Just some guys I ran into, let's go."

"Don't you want to pay for your book?" She stopped me. I went to the cashier and when I turned around found that Sakura was chatting up the guys. I hurried over grabbing hold of her arm.

"Shouldn't we be heading back to the academy?" I hissed in her ear.

"What's the rush, they're going to take us to a few other stores. Is that alright?"

"I guess." I murmured but they were already walking out of the shop. I hurried after them, walking beside Sakura fully aware of the tall boys behind us. Something about the way they walked, it wasn't right. Everything about them was telling me to run.

"Mio, what book did you get?"

"Huh?" I looked to Sakura who was waiting for an answer to her question. I looked down to pull the book out only to find that the bag was empty. "I left it back at the store."

"I'll go with you." The boy with the curly hair said and began to follow me back the way we had just come. "It's getting late." He commented. I noticed then how there was barely anyone on the street.

"Yeah." I said nervously and stopped. "Where are we? Did we take the wrong turn?"

"You tell me." I felt his breath on my neck.

"Stop!" I jumped away, letting my wrist snap forward to collide with his face when he grabbed hold of my hand. He hissed, his fangs barred and his eyes glowing a bloody red.

"This is why I love unprotected girls like you and your friend." Sakura, she was alone with the other boy!

"Let me go!" I ripped my hand from his grip and took off down the alley. His hand shot out just as I whipped around the corner. I noticed the abandoned bricks alongside the wall. I grabbed one and threw it as hard as I could. It hit the vampire squarely in the forehead. He shook his head, giving me a chance to run again.

"Come here!" He growled, clutching my hood and yanking me backwards. A hand grabbed hold of my wrist and easily pulled me away. There was a flash before my eyes and then an explosion of dust. I shielded my face from the blow, almost being knocked over.

"Toru-san!" Strong arms wrapped around me, pulling me tightly against a chest.

"Ichijo-senpai." I mumbled, as I waited for the shock to cease. I pushed him away. "What are you doing here?" I asked. His green eyes stared at me sheepishly. "Were you following me?"

"Yes and no." He replied. "I was in the area checking for vampires, but I wasn't entirely following you." He stood there waiting for my response. I stood there not knowing if I should blow up at the fact that he had followed me. What I did next hadn't been one of my scenarios. I threw my arms around him.

"Thank you." No matter what, he had saved me. I froze and pulled away. "Sakura, she's with the other vampire!" I exclaimed. He grabbed hold of my wrist and was running down the street. We reached a corner shop and there was just Sakura looking in the window. Ichijo instantly let go as she looked up.

"Mio and…Ichijo-senpai?"

"I ran into him when I was coming back. Where did the boy you were with go?"

"He left all of a sudden without an explanation, should we head back to the academy now?" Even though she was speaking to me she was looking at the guy beside me.

"Would you mind if I came back with you?"

"Of course!" She told him before I could answer. With Ichijo in the middle, we began back for the academy. As he walked beside me, our fingers rubbed against each others. I instantly pulled back, my heart once again racing. We all walked in silence, and I was stunned that even Sakura couldn't find anything to say. He left us at the sun dormitory where we both managed to say a goodbye. I watched him go, rubbing my thumb against my palm. He had been worried about me. He had been worried enough to come after me to make sure I was safe.

"You coming in?" The girl called.

"Yeah." I smiled and followed her inside.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten: Ichio

I knocked on the door. There wasn't an answer. "Kaname?" I called. Still nothing. "Sleep well, goodnight." I turned around to find the other night class students.

"Is dorm leader still locking himself inside his room?" Rima asked.

"Don't tell me that you did something again." Kain said to Aido.

"Who would? If I really did something I would be punished already." Aido yelled, restoring his dignity.

"That's true." I looked at Ruka, seeing the concern on her face.

"Don't worry; I think he's just thinking about something. Now, let's get some rest." I told the group.

"Ichijo-sama." The maid took my attention by the sound of my name. "The books you ordered are ready, should we bring them to your room?" In one hand she held the entire stack that was stretching to the ceiling.

"Oh sorry, please do." I uneasily answered, trying to ignore the looks of the others.

"What about Kuran-sama?"

"Do you have something to tell the dorm leader?"

"This is the application for the guest that wanted to stay in the dorm." She held the tray with the clipboard out to me. I took the board, reading the paper. My worst nightmare had come true.

"No, this can't be real! Why?" I cried.

"Ichijo-san?" Shiki said.

"What is it?" Aido asked.

"My…my Grandfather." I began trying to suppress my feelings. "He's coming here tonight!" I exploded. There were only a few shocked faces from the group. We made our way downstairs into the main room where they gathered around to listen to me.

"Talking about the vice president's Grandfather." Kain started.

"It's like that..." Aido couldn't finish.

"Yes, he runs a business that everyone knows in the outside world." I said. "He created the Ichijo group. In the night world, he's counted to be one of the top within the vampire nobles. Ichijo Asato, or 'Ichio' as he's called. He's one of the most senior vampires in the Council of the Ancients."

"What is that Ichio doing here?" Kain asked.

"I don't know." I shook my head, dreading this even more.

"There's nothing to be feared of." Ruka said. "The Council of the Ancients is the highest command of our world, but they are not our sovereign."

"This is true." She had no idea what my fears were though. "But I don't want to disturb our dorms little bit of piece. Even if it's for Kaname's sake." I looked to the others. "We better get some sleep now." They murmured their agreements. Once they were all gone from sight up the stairs, I began to pace. I needed to speak to Mio immediately, but her classes were only just starting and there was no way I could sleep at a time like this. I went to my bedroom, finding the stacks of books on my bed.

I had to pass the time somehow. I grabbed the first book and pulled my drawer open. I slipped open the container of pills. I grabbed a handful and started popping the blood tablets into my mouth to calm my nerves. I chewed them, not caring for a drink. I laid down on the bed and opened the book.

I jumped awake with a start, hearing the noise of an alarm. I shut it off seeing the time. I had managed to read through a few of the books only to fall asleep. Thankfully, Mio was out of classes now. I picked up a shirt and pants from the floor, tugging them on and buttoning the collar as I raced down the stairs. I threw open the door and took off across the moon dormitory lawn heading towards are meeting place. She was there and had just placed her books underneath the bush. "Ichijo-san." She smiled her blue eyes dazzling.

What was I doing? I couldn't tell her! "Is something wrong?" I couldn't find my voice to even utter a hello. If I told her what would she do? I remembered the other night when she had come in contact with the Level D. After it was over, there had never been one look of fear in those eyes. Now that I thought about it, every time she learned something new about my world, something that would send other humans spiraling into terror, she was calm.

"My Grandfather." I managed to say. A look of confusion crossed her face. I took a deep breath. "He's coming here tonight."

"That's a good thing, isn't it?" I couldn't help but laugh.

"He's not like that." I shook my head and then sat down at the base of a tree.

"Then how is he?" She asked and walked over, sitting down beside me. I stared up at the branches, seeing the way the light filtered down through the leaves. It stung my eyes yet was beautiful. I slowly proceeded to tell her what I had told the other night class members this morning. She was silent. I sat in my fear, waiting for her to jump to her feet at any moment only to turn and run.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" My hands knotted into fists when I realized that the sound of her voice wasn't what I had expected. It wasn't angry or scared, it was just a question.

"I didn't really think it mattered." I lied, forcing a smile. She let out an 'ah' sound, and laid down in the grass.

"So your Grandfather, he's like a really scary and powerful dude?"

"You could say that."

"Ichijo, I really don't understand why this is bothering you. I get that he's a senior in your senate but what does any of that have to do with him coming to Cross Academy?" I stared off into the distance, seeing the school. This was something that even Kaname didn't know.

"Let's just say, I'm not really here by my own free will." I glanced over, seeing that she had sat up and was watching me. I could feel the heat coming from her. I could sense the beat of her heart, pulsing through her veins while her blood moved throughout her system. Pure innocent blood. Mio, who wouldn't know what it was like, for the touch of fangs to caress the hollow of her throat. I snapped my attention away.

"You may not believe me, but I know what that's like." I looked back at her, seeing that she had her back to me. "When my parents saw that I could get into Cross Academy they didn't give me a choice, they signed me up, packed my bags and sent me here. Like any other child would, when I first came I thought this was a punishment and they had sent me here because they didn't want me at home. I do know now that it was because they wanted me to get a good education. I don't write back to their letters though."

"But they're your parents?" I said, not realizing that I was caught up in the story.

"They are, yet for some reason I don't want to forgive them." I laid down, looking up at her.

"Do you not like it here Toru-chan?" She moved to face me.

"No I do, I'd rather be here then home actually. I have Sakura and yo…" She stopped. I glanced away after seeing the red in her face.

"What do you suppose I do?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"Face your Grandfather and tell him that you're here because you want to be not because he's making you." I laughed.

"Some pretty tough advice." I sat up seeing the sun sinking across the sky.

"Ichijo…" She began. I looked back at her.

"Takuma." I told her. Her blue eyes widened "-senpai." I quickly added seeing for the first time fear on her face. She looked down at her hands.

"Mio-san." She replied uncomfortably.

"See you later." I called before heading back towards the dormitory, feeling much better then when I had come. All the night class students were gathered inside, no one was planning on missing this which was exactly why no one was going to class. There was still a sense of dread inside me as the world outside grew darker, I tried to think of my talk with Mio, telling myself over and over that I could stand up to my Grandfather even though it seemed impossible.

"Kaname!" I exclaimed, seeing him walking down the stairs. I hurried up to him. "It's fine, you don't need to come personally. He's probably here to just have a few words with me."

"I haven't seen Ichio for a long time, so I just want to greet him." He began to walk past me. "Can't I?"

"It's not that you can't." I stopped, following him the rest of the way down. We waited as footsteps neared and the solid doors began to open. A gust of wind billowed inside while a black form that was seemed no more than a ghost stood.

"Such a grand welcome." Ichio stepped inside, the doors closing behind him. "I'm just here to see my cute grandchild. There's no need to be so formal."

"Ichio, I'm glad to see you so well." Kaname greeted.

"That time, when you rejected me from being your guardian. We haven't seen each other since that day, Kaname-sama." To me it seemed that he was still harboring a grudge.

"It's because I didn't wish to become spoiled." Kaname answered. I leaned over to him.

"Kaname, speaking here is a bit…" I whispered thinking of all the vampires gathered in this room.

"That's right." He stopped me again.

"As expected, purebloods are different from us." Ichio stepped towards him. "Even if your fully stained with blood you still won't be tainted." He took Kaname's hand, appalling the group. "Just like the everlasting fragrance of flowers, the overflowing youth, strength, and beauty." He bowed. "I hope that one day I'll be able to share your incomparable blood." I stared at my Grandfather in amazement that he had dared to do this, in front of everyone as well. Suddenly, Ruka and Aido both stepped between them, Aido grabbing hold of Ichio while Ruka pulled Kaname away.

"Souen's daughter and Aido's son, is it?" My Grandfather stared at Aido who still had a firm grip on his wrist.

"Aido." I pulled the boy back.

"It's the greatest taboo to draw blood from a pureblooded vampire. I won't be afraid of your…" Aido raged when Kaname's hand shot out, colliding into Aido's face. Aido toppled over in pain while Kaname bowed apologetically.

"It's my fault." He said.

"It's because Kaname-sama is here, that is why I could leave my grandchild here to study without worries." That wasn't the reason though. He took Kaname's hand again only to kiss it this time. "My lord." He straightened up and slowly turned to me. His silver eyes were hard. "If I could speak alone with my grandchild."

"Of course." Kaname dismissed the room only for he himself to return up the stairs. One the room had been emptied and it was only me and Ichio, I looked to him.

"It's good to see you." I lied.

"I won't be staying any longer." He replied and turned sharply for the door. This didn't surprise me. "I have only come to remind you of your role." I nodded even though he wasn't watching me. I was ready.

"Takuma, it seems that Kaname-sama trust you very much." This caught me off guard. "Continue to serve him. Also to keep an eye on his movements. That's the reason why I am letting you stay in this academy." He opened the door. This was my chance.

"Grandfather, you don't understand." I was speaking without thinking. He slowly looked over his shoulder at me. I thought of the warmth that Mio gave me this afternoon. "I won't do anything that harms my friends." I told him.

"You're the one that doesn't understand. In this narrow world of the school, a friendship based on the hypocritical peace is…"

"Cross Academy is peaceful!" A voice answered.

"Yuki-chan." I said, seeing the girl standing in the doorway.

"That's why Chairman Cross said to make a contribution this time too. Um, your Ichijo-senpai's Grandfather, right?" She became alert, reviving from her embarrassment. "I'm here to welcome you." She saluted.

"We'll bring you to the Chairman's office." Zero responded.

"Never mind." Grandfather began walking only to be stopped by Kaname. I didn't listen to anything more though. I couldn't. All that was on my mind was what I had finally been able to do.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven: Trust

I slowly peeled my eyes open, aware of the hand on my arm shaking me insistently. "We're going to be late, get up now." Sakura's shrill voice filled my ears. I jumped up, throwing off the covers and rushing to the closet. "Just kidding." I whirled around seeing the smiling girl sitting on my bed. "We still have a half an hour, it is fun to see you freak out though."

"I'm going back to bed." I dropped the jacket and collapsed on the mattress, burying my face in the pillow.

"When are you going to tell me what really happened that night?" I felt her prodding my side.

"What night?" I mumbled.

"Our girl's night out?" The memories rushed back all at once. The vampire who had tried to kill me, Ichijo coming to my rescue. Yet Sakura still remained unaware of the danger that we had been put through.

"I told you everything." I lied; glad she couldn't see my face.

"Why was Ichijo there though?" I shrugged. "You're not telling me everything Mio, how did the two of you meet up?" I pulled myself to my knees and turned to look at her.

"He came out of nowhere I swear; I didn't expect to see him really. We just ran into each other." Technically it was the truth. She pouted obviously still not believing me. It was getting harder and harder to keep it a secret from her yet no matter how many times I had the urge to tell her, I had to cap the words. Who knew what Sakura would do if she learned that her beloved night class were vampires? She got up from the bed and went back to hers, pulling out a manga from under her covers. Instead of lying back down, I went back to the closet and continued to dress in my uniform. My thoughts weren't on the night out with Sakura, they were on that afternoon when he told me to call him Takuma. I'd seen Ichijo since then and apparently everything with his grandfather had gone well. Yet hearing him call me Mio and calling him Takuma…

The sound of his name in my head caused me to topple over in my discomfort. How were we suddenly on a first name basis? This was all happening so fast and I didn't understand most of it. I couldn't fight the happiness inside of me though, the fact that he had needed to come and talk to me during a hard time. I only wished that I would be able to do the same but would he really care about my human problems? I froze. Compared to him I _didn't_ have any problems, unless you counted having a friend who was a vampire. _Friend_. The word was strange to apply to Ichijo. I closed the closet only to find Sakura staring at me.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, I uh…" I looked around for something to say. "I just have a headache." It was true. "I'm going to head to class, I'll see you there." I called and headed out the door with my books in hand. I made my way down the steps pausing when I overheard the eager day class girls exclaiming about the ball.

That was right, it was coming quicker then I had expected and finals were in the next few days. I hadn't even studied. I would have to tell Ichijo that for the next few days we couldn't meet until finals were over with. I cursed myself for once again using his last name, if I was ever going to get used to it I would have to start calling him by Takuma even when I was just thinking. How insane was? I shook my head trying to clear it and started a run, grabbing breakfast on my way to class. There were only a few other students gathered inside, others trying to get as much sleep as they could before having to come to class.

Neither Yuki or Zero were here yet. I slid into my desk, and balanced my chin on my books; I rested my eyes seeing his face imprinted on the back of my eyelids.

"Mio?" I stirred, hardly realizing I had started to fall asleep. Sakura sat down beside me. "If you keep this up you won't get a good grade on your final and then our class will have to work backstage at the dance." I nodded along even though I wasn't interested. Yagari called the class to order and the lectures began. I listened the best I could, glancing around to see the other students' expressions. Most of them were all the same; bored along with Sakura.

"Is something going on?" Sakura looked around as we walked side by side during our break. There was a loud commotion between the day class girls.

"You can't go that way!" My head snapped up at the sound of the voice. "The day class is still there at this time!" There was Ichijo hurrying along after a small girl with pale lavender hair. She was wearing a white class uniform yet I had never seen her before.

"Is that a new student?" I asked Sakura.

"Ichijo-senpai, remember me?" She called out to him. Just like everyone else she could only pay attention to him.

"It's dangerous!" The girl didn't stop for him though, only continued on her way.

"Hold these." I thrust my books into Sakura's hands who took them without asking why as I hurried threw the crowd. I made my way around when I saw the group of girls running after Yuki. Wherever Yuki was going it would have to lead to Ichijo. I started to follow when the day class students all charged down a hallway no longer with Yuki at the lead. I slowly began glancing around corners trying to spot any sign of blonde hair.

I paused, hearing familiar voices. "That's why I'm doing these unfavorable duties." I looked up seeing the two figures kneeling. A spark of jealousy suddenly ignited inside me.

"Mio-san?" Yuki asked startled when she saw me below. "Please leave the night class members alone." She jumped to her feet. I bit back a sharp reply when Ichijo spoke.

"It's alright." He hoped over the railing landing beside me. "I doubt just one night class girl can do me any harm." He smiled. Yuki followed him over, eyeing us both suspiciously before giving a hasty goodbye and hurrying off in the opposite direction.

"That was close." I breathed when his arms pulled me against him. "Ichi…Takuma-senpai!" My voice was muffled against him. He slowly released me. "What was that for?" I stared at my feet, not wanting him to see the embarrassment on my face.

"Human friends do that when they see each other, don't they?" I couldn't help but laugh.

"Yes, some friends hug." I looked up at him, seeing the wide grin on his face. I heard footsteps rounding the corner. "Come on." I grabbed hold of his sleeve and led him down a narrow hallway. "What are you doing here anyway?" I asked once the group of day class students ran by, still on the search for the night class. His face darkened as I looked back at him.

"Kurenai Maria." He shook his head. "She's a new member of the night class."

"Since when does it except new members?" We began walking again.

"Apparently, she was supposed to come at the start of the year. She has a weak body though, and her condition didn't improve until now for her to come." He replied.

"Is that normal? For vampires I mean?"

"In some cases. She's quite troublesome seeing as how she hasn't entirely grasped the rules yet, Kaname's asked me to watch her." I blinked at the sudden rays of sun when we headed outside. I glanced at Ichijo, wondering what it was like for him. "She's probably made her way back by now, I better get going as well before I draw any more attention." He waved a goodbye before slinking off into the shadows. I watched him until he was gone from my sight; I then turned and went back inside.

"Kaname, what should we do with the transfer student?" I asked, staring out the window while Kaname continued to play his game of chest against himself.

"Ichijo, you take care of her." He answered. He sat back in his chair. "It'll create problems if I'm active too much. Because in this school she has all the pieces she wants."

"Pieces, eh? That saying can be accepted. But, is it all a coincidence?"

"No, I collected them all."

"I'll leave you to it, Kaname then." I smiled faintly to myself before heading to the door.

"Ichijo, there is one last thing I must discuss with you." I pulled my hand from the knob. "How long did you expect me to be blind to your meetings with the day class girl?" I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath before turning around to face him.

"There isn't really any harm…"

"No harm? Even if she was to tell all of the day class our secret? This threatens Cross Academy's peace."

"She wouldn't."

"You put too much trust in the humans."

"What about Yuki? You trust her to keep the secret."

"Yuki is…different." He answered slowly.

"Because she's special to you?"

"Have you ever thought if you were to ever lose yourself around her?"

"I wouldn't…I won't. I'm not like Aido."

"Even I have made costly choices around Yuki but Ichijo; you are not the kind of person who would recover from them."

"I am aware of all these things." My hands clutched into fists.

"It's not too late; we can stop it before it gets out of hand. I can send Seiren to erase her memories."

"No." I firmly put his eyes meeting mine.

"Ichijo, there may come a time when we have to leave."

"And when that time comes I will be able to leave, without her." His eyes narrowed to the chess game in front of him.

"I trust you." Kaname spoke. I nodded and closed the door behind me.


	12. Chapter 12

**Hi everyone! I thought I should mention that when I was writing this chapter, orginally Mio wore a very different dress to the dance but as I was looking over the episode I saw a girl with Ichijo that looked exactly as how I pictured Mio (except for her blue eyes), so I changed the dress to match the girl in the episode, and if you want to know what Mio looks like then watch Vampire Knight Episode 11: Consquence of Desire. I hope you like it, hopefully chapter thirteen will be up tomorrow so it won't leave anyone hanging for too long. =]**

_**Storystar777**_

* * *

><p>Chapter Twelve: Near to You<p>

I slowly exhaled. "It's finally over." Sakura stretched beside me. Exams were now done with, which only left the ball to get over with. I got up, following the girl out of the row. We began down the steps walking side by side, when she spoke. "Knowing are class, we'll have to work backstage at the dance. Thanks to her." She shot a glare at the guardian who was still seated staring off into space.

"Yuki may have…poor academic grades but you can't completely blame just her, I mean there are others who get low scores as well."

"Like who?" Not being able to name any I looked away. My mind began to wonder, and like usual, I thought of him. I hadn't seen Ichijo for a few days, since I had told him that the time I spend with him could be used for studying. He understood, and I hadn't heard one word from him since. It felt quite strange, seeing as how every day I had been meeting with him to suddenly stop. Now that the tests were over, we could start our meetings up again.

After dinner, we heard the news. Just as everyone had suspected our class had gotten the lowest scores and had to work backstage. Sakura complained the entire way to the main hall where she continued to throw a fit as we were handed a box full of streamers and other decorations to set up. We got to work at once, everyone wanting to hurry and get everything finished. I glanced around the room, seeing a dazed looking Yuki as the class president made his way towards her.

"Who do you want to dance with?" I turned to the girl beside Sakura, realizing she was asking the question to me.

"Ichijo of course." Sakura said before I could say anything.

"What? No!" I stammered, feeling the red in my cheeks. "I really don't care to dance with any of them." I managed to say coolly. It was true; I didn't care to dance with Ichijo. We were just friends and there was no reason for me to act like any of the other day class girls. The main doors were thrown open and a panting Zero stumbled in with what looked like blood on his shirt. I was instantly alert, my eyes watching as he headed into another room and Yuki after him.

"What do you think they're doing in there?"

"I always knew they were secretly a couple." One of the day class students's giggled.

"Should I listen?" Sakura stood up. I grabbed hold of her wrist.

"Don't. Just leave them alone, okay?"

"Why don't you do it Mio, if you're so against it?" The girl from before was the one to say.

"Fine." Sakura sat back down as I got up, and carefully moved across the room. My heart raced in my chest as I brought my back to the door and gently pressed my ear up to it. They were the prefects who knew the night class's secret, I couldn't risk letting any of the girls find out about out.

"Here, you can bite anywhere you like…just don't make a mess." Yuki's voice was faded through the door. There was silence for a moment, then pressure on the other side of the door. "What do I taste like, Zero?" I stumbled forward, heading back to the girls.

"So, what are they doing?" They were all eager for an explanation.

"Nothing, it sounds like they left out the window." I answered.

"That's just like the prefects to ditch." I sat on my knees, continuing with the streamers, ignoring the conversations. Zero…he was a vampire too. Now that I knew, it made sense but at the same time I couldn't believe it. It wasn't like I had ever known him, but he'd been at this school when I'd come, he'd been in the same class as me. Had he been a vampire all this time? I slowly reached my hand up and touched my throat. I wasn't afraid of vampires, I wasn't afraid of their world, but I was afraid of what my fate would be.

"You look beautiful!" Sakura fussed, staring at my reflection along with me in the mirror.

"Really? I think it's just a bit much." I ran my fingers over the fabric.

"Of course not! Besides you shouldn't have let me pick it out if you thought it would be too much. You look great really." My head fell to the side as I stared at myself harder. I was dressed in a pink, empire waist lined dress. It had been too expensive for me but Sakura had sworn I would look amazing in it and had to buy it for me, saying it was an early birthday present. "Not as great as I look though." She gently pushed me away with her hip, pondering herself.

I had to agree that she did look beautiful wearing a purple mermaid style gown with white gloves that came to her forearms. "Now let me finish your hair." She sat me down on the bed, and began to brush through it.

"Maybe I shouldn't go." I began to think aloud.

"What? Of course you're going! Why wouldn't you want to?" I shrugged. "There, perfect." She fastened the ribbon in my hair, getting up herself to strap on her stilettos. I slipped my feet into the flat black shoes (the only kind of dressy shoes I had). She shook her head but said nothing. I got up, knowing it was too late to back out, and opened the door for her. She giggled as she curtsied and walked out. I closed it firmly behind me, seeing the other girls dressed for the ball coming from their bedrooms as well. We made our way down the staircase and out the doors before heading side by side towards the main hall.

My heart pounded in my chest as I took a deep breath trying to understand why I was so nervous. We walked inside, were soft music was playing. White banners hung from the chandelier draped over the walls around the room. There were people dancing, others talking and laughter filled the air. There were so many well dressed people that it amazed me, I didn't think I had ever seen so many in my life, in one room for that mattered. A student dressed in the night class attire came our way.

"May I have this dance?" He held his hand out to Sakura. She looked from him to me her face reddening. I smiled and nodded.

"Yes." She took his hand and he led her to wear the other couples were dancing. I watched them go before making my way towards the back.

"Someone like you shouldn't be hiding all the way back here." A familiar voice said. I smiled, turning around to see him standing. He was grinning widely, his green eyes bright and danced with excitement. There was a red rose pinned on his chest which was the only difference to his usual night class uniform and tonight's. "It makes you seem lonely." He finished.

"How can I be lonely when you follow me everywhere I go?" I answered in a teasing tone.

"So you take me for a stalker now?" He laughed. He held my gaze before holding his hand out. "Here, come." Taking a deep breath, I took his hand. He pulled me gently to the center of the room, past Shiki and Rima who were watching us. I placed my free hand on his shoulder, feeling his touch on my waist. He smiled down at me as we slowly began to sway to the music. His eyes captivated me, the way they held my attention without letting me go. "How did your exams go?" He asked.

"Good."

"Mio-chan, are you enjoying yourself tonight?"

My heart skipped a beat, at the sound of him adding _chan_ to my name. "I think so." I replied.

"Your friend, Sakura, I believe is." I glanced over his shoulder seeing that she was already dancing with another member of the night class.

"That's just like her." I laughed. "She really wants to dance with you though."

"What am I going to do with these day class girls? There isn't enough of me to go around."

"Oh really?"

"Yes because…" He stopped. His hand fell from my waist but he kept his fingers laced with mine. Blood pounded in my ears as I waited for him to continue. Because why?

"I'll be back." He released me and I watched as he walked off towards the terrace.

Leaving Mio behind me, I made my way towards the balcony noticing the cracks in the glass door with Kaname standing beside it. Hadn't he been dancing with Yuki a minute ago? He was alone now though. "What what Kaname?" I forced a smile as I met him. "That was a mess, what happened?"

"A hope that binds me to not do foolish things." He answered, obviously having one of his moments. I could tell by the tone of his voice that he wanted to be alone.

"I'll leave you to it then." I awkwardly left him, looking back at the dance floor to see that Mio was gone. There went that opportunity. I noticed Rima and Shiki in a dance circle. Shiki waved me over and they made room for me as I took two of the girl's hands and we began dancing. Pushing everything that had just happened to the back of my mind. I put on a smile, making the other day class students smile as well as I began laughing.

"Kain, do you want to join us?" I called out to the boy as I noticed him walking by.

"I'll pass…I have something to do."

"Really? That's too bad then."

"Hey, isn't it about time to change partners?" One of the girl's around me asked.

"But I still haven't…" Another one protested.

"Hey, hey, calm down." I gently put.

"But I want to dance with Ichijo-senpai!"

"Me too!"

"No pushing!" I was about to cry for help as the girls began fighting when one fell to the ground. "Are you alright?" I instantly bent down, holding my hand out to her. "You didn't twist your ankle?"

"Yes." She blushed as I pulled her up. I was suddenly seized by my collar and thrown to the ground.

"Vice dorm president, don't carry it too far." Kain warned. "You've attracted so many girls, do you plan to enjoy them later?"

"How rude, it's just friendship." I replied and stared at him harder. "Now what was that urgent business?"

"I have to report to dorm president Kuran first." I pulled myself to my feet.

"I see… by the way, I haven't seen that new transfer student." I glanced at him and grinned. "Well I hope it doesn't get too complicated." I flexed my fingers, remembering Kaname in his mood. I walked off, freezing when I noticed the familiar dark hair bobbing out the door. I set after it, running out of the ballroom. "Mio-chan!" I called to her. She turned around.

"Takuma-san." She said.

"You're leaving so soon." This wasn't what I had wanted. I had thought she would stay longer, giving me more time.

"Yeah, you know I'm really tired."

"May I walk you back to your room?"

"No I..." She stammered taking a step back. I felt my heart sink in my chest. "You should really get back; all the girl's will be missing you." She began walking away. I didn't care about any of the other girls though.

"Mio, wait!" I raced down the steps, grabbing hold of her wrist and twirling her around. I caught her as she fell into my arms, and titled her face up when my mouth found hers.


	13. Chapter 13

**Hi Everyone! I jinxed myself. I was prepared to start working on chapter thirteen and then I got so busy and this chapter started to turn out longer then I expected...so I decided to cut it into two chapters so you wouldn't have to wait longer! Read, enjoy, and review! **

Chapter Thirteen: Crossfire

The moon was high in the night sky as a shadow made its way across the schoolyard. "So this is Cross Academy?" it wondered aloud. It was silent, moving up the steps with speed, prying open the door and slipping in before anyone could notice. They stalked down a hall with elegance, but not without urgency as it searched for two people in particular. Pausing, it heard rustling behind a door. Very slowly it grasped the handle, closing the door behind them. A faint chuckle escaped their lips, as it gazed at the sleeping figure. "This school is more dangerous than Kaien leads on." It said, seeing the bandages wrapped across the man's chest.

He stirred at the voice, his eye slowly opening. "Who's there?" He sat up; suddenly alert only to grab at his injury as he was seized with pain.

"Relax Yagari; lie down before you kill yourself." She sat on the foot of the bed, enjoying his reaction at seeing her.

"What are you doing here?" He demanded.

"You really have to ask? It should be obvious."

"I'm enough for this job, go back to the association and tell them that!"

"I thought I told you to lie down." She grabbed his shoulder, gently pushing him back down on the bed. She then rose to her feet, moving to the nightstand and pouring the contents from the pot into the cup. It was still warm; someone had only just recently brought it in then. She held the cup out to him.

"Thank you." He took it, taking a sip.

"Now, who did that to you?" He didn't look at her. "Keep to your secrets then." She noticed the bowl of what looked like soup, untouched. "You'd think he would have realized by now that you'll never change your ways."

"Why are you really here Asami? You didn't come just to see me." She leaned closer towards him.

"She's in the school isn't she?" He looked away. "Why aren't you doing anything? I would think that you'd want to put an end to her to avenge the Kiryu's."

"I can't." He said behind gritted teeth.

"I don't remember injuries ever stopping you before." Yagari glared at her with his one good eye.

"We can't interfere."

"I expected that from the 'peace master', but not from you."

"Maybe you should just go then."

"I don't think so, I've come to watch Cross Academy and report back on any unusual activity. I'm not going anywhere." Asami got up, moving to the door. "I'm going to start by finding Shizuka, and giving her what she deserves seeing as how you can't."

"Wait, why would they give you of all people this job?" She shrugged.

"Maybe they want me dead, I don't know and I really don't care. When they came to me with the job, I gladly accepted it."

"Why?"

"Yagari, you're not the only one who has someone you want to lookout for in this school."

His hands cupped my face, as I rose to my tiptoes, straining to kiss him back. I'd quickly gotten over the shock of Ichijo kissing me, only to find myself shocked that I liked it. He pulled back after a few more breathless moments. "I like you Mio, much more than I should." This defiantly hadn't been what I was expecting going into the dance. He was staring at me for a response, only I didn't know what to say.

"Come on, someone might see us." I grabbed his hand, feeling my face redden as we quickly headed towards the sun dormitory. We slipped inside and then up the staircase. Thankfully Sakura was still at the dance, our bedroom alone. I let go of him as I closed the door behind us and watched as he sat down on the bed waiting for me to do the same. I sat down beside him, trying to avoid contact.

"You haven't said anything." He spoke after a moment of silence. "Do you want me to leave?" He began to get up.

"No, really, stay." I pulled him back down and he seemed pleased with my reaction. It was quiet again. The moonlight came in through the opened window, and I looked anywhere but at him trying to organize my thoughts and find the right thing to say.

"Mio." He whispered, his fingers brushing against mine.

"I thought you said there was no us?" I glanced at him, his green eyes stared back at me as if he hadn't even heard the question. As it began to set in, he looked away.

"I did." He turned back to me, coming in closer so that our faces were inches apart. "But what if I want there to be one?" I turned away feeling my heart rate quickening as the moments ticked by. He let out a breath, pulling away. "If you don't feel the same just tell me." What did I feel? I was nervous, and confused but yet towards Ichijo…just friends didn't feel like enough and at the same time I didn't want him to go. He was staring off towards the window, as my shaking hand reached out and touched his shoulder. He looked back at me and I kissed him.

He was startled for a moment, his body tense until he slowly began to relax and his arms wrapped around me, bringing me closer to him. My arms wound around his neck, my lips parting when I pulled away. He kept his hold of me and I realized that somehow I was on his lap.

"Ichijo…" I began.

"It's okay." He stopped me. He laid his head against my chest. "I know, you don't have to say anything. I know." Ichijo was perfect, he could be any girl's dream guy but I had to remind myself the most crucial fact. He wasn't human. He was different then me, even if on the surface he didn't seem any different. I cared about him, and because of that there was something I needed to do.

"Ichijo?" He mumbled a reply and lifted his head. I moved my hair to the other side of my neck. His eyes looked down at the bare exposure only to come back to mine.

"No." He shook his head. "I can't." He said sternly. I touched his face. I wasn't afraid of him and he needed to realize that. I arched my head back, closing my eyes. His lips touched the hollow of my throat. I felt his tongue move across the skin only for him to spasm. His hands knotted in the back of my dress. "Mio." He spoke my name strangely as if he was fighting his instincts.

My eyelids flew open as pain spread throughout my body. He'd pierced my neck, his fangs were inside me. It hurt but I didn't want him to stop. I held him tighter, hearing him gulping. Exhaustion flooded over me, my eyelids tried to close when the pain was gone. I sat up; two red eyes illuminated the darkness. I took a deep breath, his fangs barred while my blood was smeared across his lips. He raised his hand wiping it away. He looked so horrific yet at the same time his eyes, eyes that were the color of blood, were beautiful. I leaned forward, and gently pressed my lips to his.

He was shaking but slowly that began to cease. I pulled him closer to me when suddenly the door was thrown open. I jumped, pulling away from him and seeing the woman standing in the doorway. The smile on her face dropped, she reached for her hip and then everything happened so fast. Ichijo pushed me away from him jumping to his feet as the bullet was shot. He dodged rolling behind my bed.

"Stop!" I yelled to her but she had already reloaded.

"I thought drinking blood was a taboo at this school, vampire." She growled. The sound of her voice hit me hard. I jumped to my feet hearing Ichijo's protests; I grabbed her wrist fighting her for the gun.

"Asami, stop!"

"Get out of the way Mio." She pushed me aside and pointed the gun one more. Ichijo stood up, and right before she could pull the trigger the gun heaved, changing shape and falling to the floor in a mess. She pulled the shotgun from her back when a hand grabbed hold of it.

"Asami Jiro, put the gun down before you start a war." Headmaster Cross ordered. "Takuma-kun what are you doing here?"

"Takuma Ichijo?" Asami repeated.

"I…" He stammered.

"He was getting too close to my niece, that's what he was doing here." The headmaster stared at her in amazement.

"Takuma-kun, you might want to go." He moved across the room and I got up myself, about to follow him out when Asami grabbed me by the collar.

"Not you!" She pulled me back in the room. His eyes met mine and he nodded once before closing the door. "Want to explain to me what's going?"

"Me explain? How about you! What was that, since when are you licensed to have a gun?"

"Since I became a vampire hunter!" I was silent.

"I'll leave you two." He fixed his glasses before leaving us alone in the dark room.

"How did you of all people become a vampire hunter?"

"That's not important right now." She discarded the question with a flick of her wrist. "What is important is you telling my why I shouldn't have that boy killed for doing that to you." She pointed at my throat. My hand clamped down on the bleeding marks. I walked towards my bed and sat down. How did this happen, one moment everything was perfect and now…

"Mio what happened?" She placed her hands on her hips losing her patience with me.

"I don't know." I answered causing her to walk over and sit down beside me.

"You could have been killed." She lowered her voice. "Or worse if he was a pureblood…"

"I would become a vampire I know. You don't need to give me a lecture."

"I do if you won't accept the danger of it." She replied.

"He wouldn't have hurt me. He didn't even want to drink my blood, I told him to."

"Now why would you do something as ridiculous as that?"

"Because I'm not afraid of them!" I stared at her hard, her blue eyes stern. "I'm not a little girl Asami, vampires are real and I know what they can do but I'm not afraid of level E's, of purebloods, or of Ichijo." Her reaction surprised me. She smiled, and stood up.

"If you're so sure you're not afraid of them then come with me." I looked down seeing that I was still in my dress, she had already opened the door though. "Meet me downstairs." I took a deep breath once she was gone and searched my closet for something to wear. Having managed to stop the bleeding, I slipped my boots on and headed downstairs. Asami's car was parked outside; she threw the passenger door open. I slid in, fastening the seatbelt as she sped off.

"Where are we going?" I asked almost immediately as I watched Cross Academy disappear into the distance behind us.

"You say you're not afraid of them, but how can you be when you've heard only half the story and from a vampire?"

"I've seen Level E's if that's what you're getting at, I know they're dangerous."

"You don't know anything Mio; you know the basic, that's it. The truth is much worse."

"How did you become a vampire hunter though? It doesn't make any sense." She stared straight ahead of her. "Answer me Asami."

"I was walking back from class one night, I was attacked by a Level E. Thankfully the vampire hunters had been tracking it and arrived just in time or I would have been toast. They were going to erase my memories of the event, but I said I wanted to be like them. I said I wanted to fight." She glanced over at me. "I didn't want to be afraid." She smiled, only for it to drop a second later as she looked away. "It's all quite hazy now though, for all I know it could have been the anxiety talking."

"So they let you in, just like that?"

"They're not a club Mio, but yes. Cross Kaien saw something in me, it was hard in the beginning but eventually I proved that I was as good as any of the vampire hunters who had been born one."

"Headmaster Cross is a vampire hunter?" I exclaimed.

"Was, those days are long behind him. He was also my master." I sat back in my seat not feeling any better about the situation. We sat in silence for the rest of the drive before Asami finally parked the car; I got out trying to restrain any urges for a last minute bolt. Almost as if she could read my thoughts, her hand clamped down on my shoulder and she led me across the street. "What I'm going to show you today is a secret between you and me, you mustn't tell anyone." She whispered.

Great. As if I didn't have enough secrets to be preoccupied with. "If it has to be a secret then why are you showing me?"

"Because you need to know." She released me as we entered the building. It was cold and dimly lit inside.

"Asami, shouldn't you be at Cross Academy?" I stopped along with my aunt as the man who spoke revealed himself from the shadows.

"And shouldn't you be stalking somewhere else?" He snickered before walking away. She shook her head and we kept walking. "Do me a favor and don't talk to anyone."

"Why would I, I'm not supposed to talk to strangers?" I said innocently.

"My sister did raise you well." She scoffed.

"Just where are we?" I asked as we started down a hallway with candles lit along the walls.

"The Hunter Association Headquarters, if we're lucky we'll get in and out without anyone noticing us."

"But what about that man?"

"Anyone important." She corrected. We stopped at the two large doors that blocked our way.

"What's behind this?" I dared to look at her.

"The library of reports."

**A/N**

**One last thing, Asami is a new and important character who yes I did plan to bring in eventually, but recently I have started thinking of making a spin-off story about her, for those who like her and want to know more about her let me know if I should!**


	14. Chapter 14

I'm back! With the last chapter for Find Your Way (Into My Heart) and yes this was always meant to be the last chapter, I didn't just suddenly decide to end it. I feel bad that it took me so long to finish this but tomorrow I will start on the sequel and hopefully get up a chapter at least every month. So enjoy, and look out for Find You Way (Into My Soul) =]!

Chapter Fourteen: No Longer Innocence

I moved swiftly from the day class dorm, my thoughts blazing in my head. What had I done? Had I been so stupid and selfish enough to put Mio's life in danger as well as threaten the peace this academy stood for. I felt so disgusted with myself that I almost couldn't stomach the fresh blood inside of me. Everything would be different now. I made my way up the night dorm steps solemnly thankful that everyone was still at the dance.

If only I'd resisted, if I'd only fought my vampire instincts. Mio hadn't known though, and while I hadn't been prepared for her to ask me right then and there, I had never drunk human blood before. I could no longer say that. I opened my door, watching the moonlight cast shadows around the room. I slowly moved to the bed and sat down. I felt different now. I could still taste her blood in my mouth, I could still hear in my own ears her beating pulse. My shaking hands could still feel how I held her, wanting to indulge all of her.

My head fell into my hands. How sickening these thoughts were. How did I get this way? How had I gotten so low to the point of having drunk a human's blood? The door opened startling my thoughts.

"Ichijo-san?" Shiki asked.

"What are you doing here?" The question was stupid, seeing as how I shared the room with him. He didn't seem to notice though.

"Rima and I are going to class; I came to get some blood tablets." He moved across the room only to pause. "Are you alright, you don't look good?"

"Shiki have you ever…?" I didn't finish.

"I think it was all the dancing." He replied opening the door. He then looked back at me, his blue eyes stern. "Don't push yourself Ichijo-san, you're not a bad person." I was left alone in the empty room. It was just like Shiki to say something like that, even though he was silent and sometimes seemed distant, he was always able to notice the things bothering me. I closed my eyes, trying to imagine what Kaname would do if he was in such a situation. I shook my head not able to come up with any scenario that would help me.

My heart suddenly contracted. There was a pungent scent on the wind, something so sweet that it was sickening. My stomach churned and without thinking, I sat up walking towards the door. My feet were moving on my own heading to where the smell was coming from. I noticed that my surroundings were that of the old teachers dorm where the night class had stayed when it was first created.

I stopped seeing Ruka outside. "This smell…" She whispered.

"Yeah, this sweet smell that is so strong that it makes it seem even sweeter." She turned to look at me. "Just like flowers blooming in the wrong season."

"Ichijo..." She began. I whirled around hearing the sound of glass shattering. I easily distinguished the fact that it was coming from the moon dormitory. I started running back the way I had just come, trying to clear the overwhelming scent filling my nostrils and causing my eyes to water. I saw Kaname coming down the steps and halted.

"What was that noise just now?" I asked.

"Nothing." He stopped in his tracks for a moment to face me. His face changed. "Ichijo, sense when did you drink human blood?"

The room was large and full of bookcases that stretched up towards the ceiling. "What are we doing here?" I asked, just like I had been the entire night, touching one of the spines. Asami slapped at my hand.

"I'm going to show you, the true form of vampires." She began, at what looked like, random pulling books of the shelves and placing them on a table.

"Asami, what are you talking about now?" I was losing my patience from this whole field trip.

"The night class is made up of vampire nobles and at the head the pureblood Kaname."

"I know that already…" She silenced me with a glare.

"Mio, I know what you think about them, they're beautiful, they're kind and loved by all, loved by you." She looked at me softly, "vampires, even those in the night class, are all the same. They are cruel, and heartless. They lust for just one thing. Blood, and today you gave Ichijo exactly what he wanted."I shook my head. "Mio, that is why I've brought you here, because you wouldn't believe me unless I showed you." She opened the first book and began reading an entry. It was about a vampire, from the sounds of it a level E, who had killed a family in their sleep.

Each one she read got more gruesome until I couldn't even tell which ones were level E's and which ones were ordinary vampires. I could hear their screams in my head, in my mind's eye I could see the scarlet color running down their lips. I shut my eyes at the sight, willing the thoughts to disappear. I could see it all in my mind. Hands reaching out to grab me, shaking me, choking me…

"Mio!" Asami snapped and released me as my eyelids fluttered open. I looked down at the book to make sure what she was saying had all been true. "I'm not going to tell you to stop your contact with the vampires, because I know you would rebel. I'm just trying to warn you to be careful and not to let your guard down around them.

"I know." I told her honestly.

"I think that's enough for one day." She placed her arm over my shoulders and guided me back towards the entrance. We left the Hunter's Association and started our way back for Cross Academy. I had no idea what to say to Ichijo, would he be mad? She parked the car and I turned to look at her.

"Don't forget what I've told you Mio."

"I won't, tell Mom and Dad I say hi." I was about to leave when she stopped me.

"What makes you think I'm leaving?" From the sound of her voice, I knew she was grinning.

"You're not serious…" I glanced over my shoulder.

"I'm staying and I'm going to train you to be a vampire hunter." She let me go without another word and I started for the moon dormitory.

Asami stared after Mio seeing from the corner of her eye the shadow coming towards the car. There was a knock on the window.

"Yes?" She smiled up at her old mentor.

"I couldn't help but overhear that you were planning on staying." Kaien adjusted his glasses.

"You heard correctly." His face changed. "Is something wrong with that?"

"I talked to Yagari, he said you were going to go after Shizuka."

"I am, and you can't try to stop me with all your vampire-hugger crap."

"No Asami, it's not that. Shizuka is dead."

On my way to the vampire's nest, I spotted Ichijo along with Ruka standing outside the old teacher's dorm.

"Mio?" He exclaimed noticing that I was there.

"Ichijo, she's a…" Ruka started when she was silenced with his stare. He grabbed my hand and led me away.

"What's going on?" I asked, realizing that something was off about him.

"Nothing, I was just worried about you." Once we were at our usual spot, he stopped and turned to face me. "So, how'd it go with your aunt?"

"Apparently she's a vampire hunter."

"Really? And you had no idea?"

"None." I shook my head. "Actually, she wants to train me to be a hunter too." He was quiet for a few moments before finally speaking.

"That's good." I stared at him confused. Seeing my face he replied, "If you're going to live in the vampire world, you need to be able to protect yourself. Think of it as a self defense class."

"While I try to ignore the tactics she will be telling me to kill people like you?" He pulled me into his arms giving me a tight embrace. I felt the heat rush into my cheeks.

"I'm sorry; believe me I am, especially for what I have done to you tonight. I have no right to ask this of you but please do this for me. It's the only way that I will be able to have peace of mind."

"Takuma-san." I whispered. My fists gripped the back of his shirt as I let my head fall against his chest. I didn't know if it was the loss of blood or the pure adrenaline of what had happened, but drowsiness overcame me and in seconds, sleep had caught me in its grasp.

The sun was setting and the day class girls were as rowdy as usual as they cried out for the guys they adored. I stood beside the screaming Sakura, not calling out his name even though I wanted to. The gates opened and I felt my heart jump into my throat as the vampires dressed in white walked out. My eyes caught side of the blond, emerald green eyes met mine and he smiled. That smile that caused my knees to go weak.

I watched him go, feeling the ache in my heart at what I had started. I couldn't stop the question from sounding in my head. How would it end?


End file.
